October Sustainable Energy Initiative Update

October 2018

Sustainable Energy Initiative Update

See below for:

News about our new transportation electrification initiative and April 2019 conference
Announcing our new energy alumni group. Learn how you can participate!
GW Law launches a Master of Studies in Law degree
Welcome to Achinthi Vithanage

Congratulations: Recent achievements noted!
What can you do for your school (GW Law or otherwise), and why?
How GW Law is influencing energy law education in China
Upcoming events including our Oceans conference on Nov. 9-10
Links to more news

Four Critical Questions For the Future of Transportation Electrification

The Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI) at GW Law is placing a new emphasis on transportation electrification research. Following the enthusiastic response to our roundtable discussion on this topic in March 2018, we will be holding a major conference in April 2019 to help identify challenges and share solutions in this emerging area. To get you thinking about the challenges...

Electrifying the transportation sector offers a potential means for rapidly reducing greenhouse gases, in the U.S. and other parts of the world. In recent years, transportation has replaced electric production as the predominant source of greenhouse gases in the U.S. Therefore, in light of the electric sector’s progress in reducing greenhouse gases, electrification is being widely embraced by the public, car manufacturers, and governments as the future of clean transportation.

The increased interest in electric vehicles raises the potential for significant new growth in the need for electricity (referred to as “load” in industry parlance). But, whether electric vehicles (EVs), or electrification of the transportation sector more generally, including trains, ports, and ground services at airports, will produce the emissions reductions expected and do so cost effectively will depend on many factors.

Four questions particularly stand out:

Q1: Will EV adoption rates meet expectations?

Q2: How will consumers prefer to “fuel” their EVs?

Q3: Where will the new load land on the load curve?

Q4: How do we make it green?

Looking across these four questions, the complexity of the problem is enormous. While concurrent advances in biofuels or other technologies may provide some alternatives, Electric Vehicles are undoubtedly a part of our future. So, solving this puzzle will be too.

For a fuller discussion of these issues, and why they are important, see the Sustainable Energy Initiative Blog.

Student examines a GW on-campus charge point as part of an educational unit on electric vehicles.

Also, plan on joining us in April 2019 when GW Law, in cooperation with its Energy Law Advisory Council members, hosts its first major conference on electric transportation. We anticipate this will be an annual event. If you are interested in being a program sponsor for the April 2019 event, please contact Donna Attanasio at [email protected]. Sponsorship opportunities start at $1000. Tickets to the public will be available in Winter 2019.

Calling all GW Law Energy Alumni!

SEI is delighted to announce the formation of GW Law’s first energy alumni club! The inaugural meeting will occur on Thursday, November 15, 2018 from 5-8 pm at Circa at Chinatown, 781 7th St., NW, Washington, DC, 20001. All alumni with an interest in energy are invited to this organizational event to help define its mission and kick off its initial activities. There are no admission requirements other than an interest in connecting with your fellow alumni. Cash bar will be available.

This first energy club is being organized in Washington, DC, where many of our alumni have remained or returned after graduation. We realize this will not facilitate participation by all our valued alumni, but we hope this will become a template for similar clubs elsewhere in the county. In the interim, all alumni are invited to sign up for the club’s emails and participate remotely to the extent they can. Organization of the DC-based club – to be named by its members – is being led by recent alumni Jill Goatcher, JD ’18, Alex Kaplen, JD ’16, Alain Rigaud, JD ’18, and LLM student,

Pictured left to right: Alex Kaplen, JD '16, Alain Rigaud, JD '18, LLM Student Emily Burgis, Jill Goatcher, JD '18

Emily Burgis, with support from Emily Ancinec of the GW Law Alumni Office and Donna Attanasio, of GW Law’s Sustainable Energy Initiative.

A preliminary inquiry of interest to a small group of alumni garnered enthusiastic support from over 30 alumni from classes spanning at least five decades. A general invitation will be sent to all the alumni that we have identified as having an interest in energy. But don’t wait!

RSVP Here

The purpose and activities of the club will be defined by its members. Students, however, have already reacted positively. Several have expressed interest in participating as members and hope to find mentors in the energy field through the club.

“The club will hopefully serve as an entry portal for our students into the energy law community, as well as strengthen the ties among our 1000-plus energy law alumni,” said Donna Attanasio, an ardent supporter of the new club. “It always surprises me how many alumni we have in the energy bar, and how few of them recognize their long-time acquaintances as fellow alumni. We hope the new network will provide value to the alumni in their personal and professional lives, and serve as a channel through which they can give back to their school.”

All alumni are automatically members of the GW Law Alumni Association (GWLAA) upon graduation. The new club is intended to add, not detract, from the GWLAA by fostering ties among alumni with a common field of interest. If you are unable to attend the organizational meeting of the new club but would like to be on its mailing list, please send an email to [email protected]. RSVP’s for the November 15 event (which will automatically put you on the mailing list) can be submitted here.

GW Law’s New Master of Studies in Law Degree

Do you know a non-lawyer who wants or needs just a little more background in the legal aspects of the energy industry or environmental protection? GW Law has announced a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) program for non-lawyers. The one-year degree is specifically intended for people interested in a specialized area of law, like energy or environmental law, for example, to advance their non-law career (such as, consulting, journalism, business, engineering, and other professions).

The MSL is a one-year degree program if done full time, but it also can be done part-time. MSL students take classes with law students. Each MSL student would also take Fundamental Issues in U.S. Law, a class designed to provide the legal background needed to master more specialized courses. There are nine areas of concentration, including environment and energy.

MSL students interested in a degree specific to environment and energy would take Energy Law and Regulation, Environmental Law, and Administrative Law courses. Each student would also select from among 12 energy and environmental law-specific courses, such as Oil and Gas Law, Energy Commodities, and International Climate Change Law. Lastly, students may round out their course of study with electives such as Regulated Industries, Project Finance, Legislative Analysis & Drafting, courses in constitutional law, government contracts, business law or other areas that interest them.

Additional information can be found here.

Welcome to Professor Vithanage

SEI extends a warm welcome to Achinthi Vithange who joined us in July 2018 as Visiting Associate Professor and Environmental and Energy Law Fellow. Professor Vithanage is an admitted solicitor of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Immediately prior to joining GW Law, she studied for her LLM at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Professor Vithanage was born in Sri Lanka, lived in the United Arab Emirates, practiced as an attorney in Australia, and studied in Australia, Japan, China, Spain and the U.S. She adds a well-grounded and vibrant international perspective to GW Law’s Environment and Energy Law Program. Professor Vithanage will contribute to SEI as well as the environmental law program over the coming year.

News and Congratulations

Congratulations to third-year law student Ray Richards. His paper “Preemption, I Think Not: Evaluating California’s Stored Energy Procurement Law Against FERC’s Order 841” won first place in a summer writing competition sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources (ABA SEER).

Congratulations to Lee Paddock, Associate Dean for Environmental Studies, on his recent appointment as Secretary and member of the Executive Committee for ABA SEER. Effective August 5, he has also been appointed as the ABA representative to the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, for a three-year term.

Be True to Your School!

The flurry of graduation festivities is a pivotal moment when students become alumni. It is the time when a student becomes marked forever as a graduate of the institution whose name is on her or his diploma. Regardless of the time or institution, each graduate of ANY school has a stake in assuring that the school’s reputation continues to be as illustrious in the future as on the day of graduation. The strength of an alumnus’ resume and alumni network, including the graduates who will follow, and the services and opportunities the school can provide to each alumnus in the future, depend on it. Your school will be with you forever, so – be true to your school!

Assisting your school to maintain its reputation can take many forms (of which giving money, important as it is, is only one). For GW Law graduates, here are a few of them:

New graduates: Tell the Career Center when you become employed. Whether or not you believe that “rankings” have value, many people do rely on them. One measure used in determining rank is the employment rates of new graduates, and other post-graduation activities such as further study, clerkships, etc. If you are a recent graduate of GW Law, and have not previously informed the Career Center of your new job or other post-graduate plans, do it here. Our rankings depend on you!

All graduates: On the same theme, let the Career Center know when your organization has a job opening for an attorney, entry level or not. CORE is our central repository for postings, and it is used by students and alumni. Our student body includes JD, LLM, and SJD candidates, spanning the range from entry level to those with significantly more experience. You can help assure that your organization’s needs are filled by the best – your fellow alumni!

Make sure the Alumni Relations office knows how to find you – including when you change addresses or jobs. Include information about the field in which you are working or interested, to assure you receive information of interest to you. For example, the SEI Update newsletter is sent to alumni who are tagged in the Alumni Office’s database as having an interest in energy. Keep your information current by sending an email to [email protected]

Keep in contact with your professors and tell them what you are working on. You’re wrestling with real-world problems every day. Sharing knowledge across industry and academia can enhance the work of both. Further, regular contact also facilitates reaching out when there’s an opportunity to share or a need to be met– e.g., a student who needs mentoring, a speaker for an event, a guest lecturer, or an invitation to an event. Making your knowledge public is part of how you build your professional reputation and GW is a natural partner in helping you. Your success reflects a positive light back on the school.

Join and stay active in alumni associations. It’s a great way to network and support your career. Further, alumni association volunteer programs can offer ways to give back to the school or your community, and for having fun and meeting new friends.

Volunteer! Whether you participate in an alumni association or not, you can still serve your alma mater. Interested in helping to recruit new students? Let the Admissions office know. For deeper involvement in alumni affairs, call the Alumni Relations office. Interested in sharing your expertise with students? A department chair may be able help find a role for you.

Give money. Yes, large and small gifts all matter. Alumni participation in giving counts in many ways, including attracting additional funding from foundations and others. GW Law does not have a large endowment. It is tuition-dependent and, to attract the best students, it offers many scholarships and aid packages. Your gifts help cover the gap between tuition and costs to assure that we are able to provide students (your future fellow alumni) with all the resources they need to succeed. Gifts can be undesignated or targeted to a particular area (e.g., energy and environment, government contracts, intellectual property, etc.)

Any of the above actions can help assure that whenever someone asks “where did you go to school?” your answer will remain one that you’re proud to give.

Energy Law Education in China and GW Law’s Role

A recent article appearing in the International Journal of Vocational Education and Training Research ( IJVETR) examines how to better develop energy law education in China. It also indirectly exemplifies the influence of GW Law’s long history of teaching energy law and underscores the importance of our alumni network.

Energy law, as distinct from Natural Resources Law or Oil and Gas Law, has been recognized as a separate field of academic study in the U.S. rather recently. For example, it first appeared as a separate field of specialization in the American Association of Law School’s directory of tenured faculty in the 2004-2005 edition.

GW Law inaugurated its energy law curriculum in 1978. Although for many years GW Law also focused on the more traditional resource-based approach to energy law, today its robust program includes a wide array of subjects with an emphasis on policy and regulation. Not surprisingly, given its long history, GW Law has a network of over 1,000 alumni working in the field of energy (that have been identified – there may be more!).

Because energy law is a relatively new field, its pedagogy is not as well-established as in many other fields. In 2015, the Energy Bar Association examined the U.S. approaches to teaching energy law to better inform the industry of the role it might play, as well facilitate sharing of information among academic, government, and private energy lawyers. The Energy Bar Association’s published report inspired a similar review of energy law in the U.K. The IJVETR article cites to both these prior articles in its analysis, recommending a number of changes in China’s approach to energy law education.

The analysis is based in part on a comparison to the programs of thirteen schools in the U.S., including GW Law’s energy program. The other U.S. law schools cited were University of Texas, Louisiana State University, West Virginia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Connecticut, Florida State University, University of Maryland, University of Oklahoma, Vermont Law School, University of San Diego, University of Tulsa, and University of Utah.

The Energy Bar Association’s 2015 report was developed by an ad hoc committee on education law at the request of Rich Meyer, LLM '81, in his role as then-president of the Energy Bar Association. The Committee was chaired, and the report edited by Donna Attanasio, GW Law’s Senior Advisor for Energy Law Programs, also a former president of the Energy Bar Association.

The IJVETR article notes the value of industry involvement in education. GW Law is a perfect example. The close connection that GW has forged with the energy industry, particularly through its extensive network of alumni, is of immense value to current students. Law schools in China and elsewhere in the world would do well to build a similarly supportive community. As always, GW Law is grateful to the many alumni who stay connected and continue to give back to the school.

Upcoming Events

November 9 -10, 2018: GW Law will host a conference on Changing and Dynamic Oceans: Gauging Law and Policy Responses. The first day will focus on energy-related ocean uses with panels on Offshore Oil and Gas (leasing, safety, and other issues) and Offshore Renewables (tidal energy, wind). The second day will address International Fisheries (IUU fishing, climate change), Marine Mammal Protection (noise and right whale), the United Nations Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Process, Deep Seabed Mining, and Regional BBNJ Approaches and Challenges. For the complete agenda and to register, click here.

November 15, 2018: Inaugural meeting of the first GW energy law alumni club will be held at Circa at Chinatow n . All GW Law alumni with an interest in energy are invited to attend. Cash bar will be available. Please RSVP.

March 21-22, 2019: The annual J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro symposium will host scholars and industry participants in a two-day session on re-imagining environmental and natural resource law. It has been nearly 50 years since sweeping legislation established a new foundation for environmental protection in the U.S. This symposium invites participants to contemplate the new issues we face and how to address them.

April 3-4, 2019: Save the date! GW Law’s Sustainable Energy Initiative is planning what is expected to be the first of a series of annual summits on electrification of the transportation sector. More details forthcoming soon. Watch this space!